Poverty is a well-established risk factor for behavior problems, yet our understanding of putative family mediators during early childhood (i.e., before age 5 years) is limited. The present study investigated whether the association between poverty and behavior problems during early childhood is mediated simultaneously by perceived parenting, family dysfunction and/or maternal depression symptoms. Outcomes measures were high trajectories of physical aggression and hyperactivity between 1.5 and 5 years. Poverty was defined as living 2–4 years below the low-income thresholds defined by Statistics Canada. Using data from the first five rounds of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, logistic regressions models showed that poverty was associated with a higher likelihood of being assigned to the high trajectory of physical aggression and hyperactivity. Overprotection and maternal depression symptoms mediated observed associations. Interventions targeting maternal depression, parenting, and poverty should help reducing children’s risk for early behavior problems.
AchenbachT. M.EdelbrockC. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile (Burlington, VT). University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
2.
AffruntiN. W.Woodruff-BordenJ. (2015). The effect of maternal psychopathology on parent–child agreement of child anxiety symptoms: A hierarchical linear modeling approach. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 32, 56–65.
3.
AkeeR. K. Q.CopelandW. E.KeelerG.AngoldA.CostelloE. J. (2010). Parents’ incomes and children’s outcomes: A quasi-experiment using transfer payments from casino profits. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(1), 86–115.
4.
Amone-P’OlakK.BurgerH.OrmelJ.HuismanM.VerhulstF. C.OldehinkelA. J. (2009). Socioeconomic position and mental health problems in pre- and early-adolescents: The TRAILS study. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 44(3), 231–238.
5.
BeeberL. S.SchwartzT. A.Holditch-DavisD.CanusoR.LewisV.HallH. W. (2013). Parenting enhancement, interpersonal psychotherapy to reduce depression in low-income mothers of infants and toddlers: A randomized trial. Nursing Research, 62(2), 82–90.
6.
BeharL. B. (1977). The preschool behavior questionnaire. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 5(3), 265–275.
7.
BoivinM.PérusseD.DionneG.SayssetV.ZoccolilloM.TarabulsyG. M.…TremblayR. E. (2005). The genetic-environmental etiology of parents’ perceptions and self-assessed behaviours toward their 5-month-old infants in a large twin and singleton sample. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(6), 612–630.
8.
BurtS. A.BarnesA. R.McGueM.IaconoW. G. (2008). Parental divorce and adolescent delinquency: Ruling out the impact of common genes. Developmental Psychology, 44(6), 1668–1677.
9.
BylesJ.ByrneC.BoyleM.OffordD. (1988). Ontario Child Health Study: Reliability and validity of the general functioning subscale of the McMaster Family Assessment Device. Family Process, 27(1), 97–104.
10.
CasasJ. F.WeigelS. M.CrickN. R.OstrovJ. M.WoodsK. E.YehE. A. J.Huddleston-CasasC. A. (2006). Early parenting and children’s relational and physical aggression in the preschool and home contexts. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 27(3), 209–227.
11.
CongerR. D.CongerK. J.MartinM. J. (2010). Socioeconomic status, family processes, and individual development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 685–704.
12.
CongerR. D.DonnellanM. B. (2007). An Interactionist perspective on the socioeconomic context of human development. Annual Review of Psychology, 58(1), 175–199.
13.
CostelloE.ComptonS. N.KeelerG.AngoldA. (2003). Relationships between poverty and psychopathology: A natural experiment. JAMA, 290(15), 2023–2029.
14.
CôtéS. M.BoivinM.NaginD. S.JapelC.XuQ.ZoccolilloM.…TremblayR. E. (2007). The role of maternal education and nonmaternal care services in the prevention of children’s physical aggression problems. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(11), 1305–1312.
15.
CôtéS. M.VaillancourtT.BarkerE. D.NaginD.TremblayR. E. (2007). The joint development of physical and indirect aggression: Predictors of continuity and change during childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 19(01), 37–55.
16.
CôtéS.VaillancourtT.LeBlancJ. C.NaginD. S.TremblayR. E. (2006). The development of physical aggression from toddlerhood to pre-adolescence: A nation wide longitudinal study of Canadian children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34(1), 68–82.
17.
D’OnofrioB. M.GoodnightJ. A.HulleC. A. V.RodgersJ. L.RathouzP. J.WaldmanI. D.LaheyB. B. (2009). A quasi-experimental analysis of the association between family income and offspring conduct problems. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37(3), 415–429.
18.
DearingE.McCartneyK.TaylorB. A. (2006). Within-child associations between family income and externalizing and internalizing problems. Developmental Psychology, 42(2), 237–252.
19.
DuncanG. J.MorrisP. A.RodriguesC. (2011). Does money really matter? Estimating impacts of family income on young children’s achievement with data from random-assignment experiments. Developmental Psychology, 47(5), 1263–1279.
20.
EssexM. J.KraemerH. C.ArmstrongJ. M.BoyceW. T.GoldsmithH. H.KleinM.H.…KupferD. J. (2006). Exploring risk factors for the emergence of children’s mental health problems. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(11), 1246–1256
21.
EvansG. W.EnglishK. (2002). The environment of poverty: Multiple stressor exposure, psychophysiological stress, and socioemotional adjustment. Child Development, 73(4), 1238–1248.
22.
EvansG. W.CassellsR. C. (2014). Childhood poverty, cumulative risk exposure, and mental health in emerging adults. Clinical Psychological Science, 2(3), 287–296.
23.
FaraoneS. V.DoyleA. E.MickE.BiedermanJ. (2014). Meta-analysis of the association between the 7-repeat allele of the dopamine D4 receptor gene and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(7), 1052–1057.
24.
GaléraC.CôtéS. M.BouvardM. P.PingaultJ.-B.MelchiorM.MichelG.…TremblayR. E. (2011). Early risk factors for hyperactivity-impulsivity and inattention trajectories from age 17 months to 8 years. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(12), 1267–1275.
25.
GeoffroyM. C.CôtéS.GiguèreC. É.DionneG.ZelazoP. D.TremblayR. E.…SéguinJ. (2010). Closing the gap in academic readiness and achievement: The role of early childcare. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(12), 1359–1367.
26.
GilesP. (2004). “Low Income Measurement in Canada.” Statistics Canada, Income Research Paper Series, 75F0002MIE. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
27.
HayesA. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.
28.
HerbaC. M.TremblayR. E.BoivinM.LiuX.MongeauC.SéguinJ. R.CôtéS. M. (2013). Maternal depressive symptoms and children’s emotional problems: Can early child care help children of depressed mothers?JAMA Psychiatry, 70(8), 830–838.
29.
ImaiK.KeeleL.TingleyD. (2010). A general approach to causal mediation analysis. Psychological Methods, 15(4), 309–334.
30.
JettéM.Des GroseilliersL. (2000). Survey description and methodology in longitudinal study of child development in Québec (ÉLDEQ 1998-2002). Institut de la statistique du Québec. Retrieved fromhttp://www.iamillbe.stat.gouv.qc.ca/nouvelle_bref_an.htm
31.
JonesB. L.NaginD. S. (2007). Advances in group-based trajectory modeling and an SAS procedure for estimating them. Sociological Methods & Research, 35(4), 542–571.
32.
KiernanK. E.MensahF. K. (2009). Poverty, maternal depression, family status and children’s cognitive and behavioural development in early childhood: A longitudinal study. Journal of Social Policy, 38(4), 569–588.
33.
Kim-CohenJ.MoffittT. E.TaylorA.PawlbyS. J.CaspiA. (2005). Maternal depression and children’s antisocial behavior: Nature and nurture effects. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62(2), 173–181.
34.
LarssonH.SariaslanA.LångströmN.D’OnofrioB.LichtensteinP. (2014). Family income in early childhood and subsequent attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 55(5), 428–435.
35.
LaurinJ. C.GeoffroyM.-C.BoivinM.JapelC.RaynaultM.-F.TremblayR. E.CôtéS. M. (2015). Child care services, socioeconomic inequalities, and academic performance. Pediatrics, 136(6), 1112–1124.
36.
MorrellJ.MurrayL. (2003). Parenting and the development of conduct disorder and hyperactive symptoms in childhood: A prospective longitudinal study from 2 months to 8 years. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44(4), 489–508.
37.
NaginD. (2005). Group-based modeling of development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
38.
NajmanJ. M.ClavarinoA.McGeeT. R.BorW.WilliamsG. M.HayatbakhshM. R. (2010). Timing and chronicity of family poverty and development of unhealthy behaviors in children: A longitudinal study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 46(6), 538–544.
39.
NikiémaB.GauvinL.ZunzuneguiM. V.SéguinL. (2012). Longitudinal patterns of poverty and health in early childhood: Exploring the influence of concurrent, previous, and cumulative poverty on child health outcomes. BMC Pediatrics, 12(1), 1–13.
40.
NylundK. L.AsparouhovT.MuthénB. O. (2007). Deciding on the number of classes in latent class analysis and growth mixture modeling: A Monte Carlo simulation study. Structural Equation Modeling, 14(4), 535–569.
41.
OdgersC. L.CaspiA.RussellM. A.SampsonR. J.ArseneaultL.MoffittT. E. (2012). Supportive parenting mediates neighborhood socioeconomic disparities in children’s antisocial behavior from ages 5 to 12. Development and Psychopathology, 24(3), 705–721.
42.
PreacherK. J.HayesA. F. (2008). Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behavior Research Methods, 40(3), 879–891.
43.
RaffertyY.GriffinK. W. (2010). Parenting behaviours among low-income mothers of preschool age children in the USA: Implications for parenting programmes. International Journal of Early Years Education, 18(2), 143–157.
44.
RijlaarsdamJ.StevensG. W. J. M.van der EndeJ.HofmanA.JaddoeV. W. V.MackenbachJ. P.…TiemeierH. (2013). Economic disadvantage and young children’s emotional and behavioral problems: Mechanisms of risk. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 41(1), 125–137.
45.
RobinsL.CottlerL.BucholzK.ComptonW. (1995). Diagnostic Interview Schedule for DSM-IV (DSM-IV). St Louis, MO: Washington University.
46.
RoyA. L.RaverC. C. (2014). Are all risks equal? Early experiences of poverty-related risk and children’s functioning. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(3), 391–400.
47.
RoyC. A.ZoccolilloM.GruberR.BoivinM.PérusseD.TremblayR. E. (2005). Construct validity of an instrument to assess major depression in parents in epidemiologic studies. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 50(12), 784–791.
48.
SarsourK.SheridanM.JutteD.Nuru-JeterA.HinshawS.BoyceW. T. (2011). Family socioeconomic status and child executive functions: The roles of language, home environment, and single parenthood. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17(1), 120–132.
49.
SchwarzG. (1978). Estimating the dimension of a model. The Annals of Statistics, 6(2), 461–464.
50.
ShawD. S.ConnellA.DishionT. J.WilsonM. N.GardnerF. (2009). Improvements in maternal depression as a mediator of intervention effects on early childhood problem behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 21(2), 417–439.
51.
ShellebyE. C.Votruba-DrzalE.ShawD. S.DishionT. J.WilsonM. N.GardnerF. (2014). Income and children’s behavioral functioning: A sequential mediation analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(6), 936–946.
52.
SpencerN. (2003). Social, economic, and political determinants of child health. Pediatrics, 112(3), 704–706.
53.
Statistics Canada. (1996). National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, user’s handbook and microdata guide. Ottawa: Special Surveys Division, Statistics Canada. Microdata documentation: 89M0015GPE.
54.
Statistics Canada. (2012). “Low Income Lines, 2010 to 2011”. Statistics Canada, Income Research Paper Series, 75F0002 M - No. 002. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.
55.
TremblayR. E.VitaroF.GagnonC.PichéC.RoyerN. (1992). A prosocial scale for the preschool behaviour questionnaire: Concurrent and predictive correlates. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 15(2), 227–245.
56.
TremblayR. E. (2010). Developmental origins of disruptive behaviour problems: The “original sin” hypothesis, epigenetics and their consequences for prevention. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines, 51(4), 341–367.
57.
TremblayR. E.NaginD. S.SéguinJ. R.ZoccolilloM.ZelazoP. D.BoivinM.…JapelC. (2004). Physical aggression during early childhood: Trajectories and predictors. Pediatrics, 114(1), e43–e50.
58.
WadsworthM. E.RindlaubL.Hurwich-ReissE.RienksS.BiancoH.MarkmanH. J. (2013). A longitudinal examination of the adaptation to poverty-related stress model: Predicting child and adolescent adjustment over time. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 42(5), 713–725.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
